Sami al-Arian, a University of South Florida computer-science professor and prominent Muslim activist, handed out $1,000 contributions to [Rep. Cynthia] McKinney and other lawmakers during a short burst of political giving between 1998 and 2001. â€¦ Al-Arianâ€™s first legal campaign contribution on record was a $200 donation in 1998 to re-elect his local congressman, Rep. Jim Davis (D-Fla.), according to FEC records. Between 1999 and early 2001, the Islamist leader and his wife, Nahla, gave larger, multiple contributions to the campaigns of McKinney ($2,000), [David] Bonior ($3,200) and [Tom] Campbell ($1,300).

And, Rubin has more:

What was Al-Arian up to and why did he favor then Congressman (and now Senate candidate) Tom Campbell? The report continues that Al-Arian and other Muslim figures were looking to do away with â€provisions of the 1996 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, which allowed federal authorities to use classified information as a basis on which to hold foreign terrorist suspects and to deny that information to the suspectsâ€™ defense attorneys. The thinking behind the law, congressional sources say, was to allow domestic law-enforcement services to use foreign intelligence as evidence on which to detain and deport the foreign suspects. Much of that intelligence could not be revealed to the defense because it would put the sources of that intelligence in physical danger.â€ (Campbell, in fact, testified in favor of his donorâ€™s position at a congressional hearing.)

Beyond that, the report tells us that a Campbell staffer â€œserve[d] as point man on the issue. That staffer, according to the program and subsequent AMC newsletter, spoke to an event for training Muslim activists on â€˜How to Lobby Congress.â€™ The published agenda of the AMCâ€™s June 2001 national conference shows that al-Arian was another AMC lobbying coach who helped train activists from around the country in lobbying Congress.â€ That staffer was most likely Suhail Khan, who served as Campbellâ€™s policy director and press secretary. And lo and behold, he appeared at the very same CAIR conference in 2009 â€“ with none other than Hussain. (Campbell, too, was a CAIR fan. When a new headquarters opened in June 2000, â€œseveral members of Congress, including Republican Congressmen Tom Campbell and Democrat James Moran also came to lend their support.â€) What a small world.

His involvement went further than that. Later in 2000, Campbell wrote a letter to an immigration judge on behalf ofMazen Al-Najjar, Al-Arain’s brother-in-law and collaborator, protesting the fact that the government was going to use classified evidence against him.

According to a Sept. 1, 2000 article in the St. Petersburg Times that I accessed via Nexis:

This week, two members of the U.S. House, one a Republican and one a Democrat, sent a letter to (Judge R. Kevin) McHugh asking him not to resort to secret evidence because high-ranking government officials have serious doubts.

“National Security Adviser (Sandy) Berger stated that he had seen the secret portions of the government’s investigation in this matter and had misgivings about it,” wrote Democratic Whip David Bonior of Michigan and U.S. Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Calif. The two have introduced legislation to ban the use of secret evidence as unconstitutional.

In his plea deal, Al-Arain admitted that he concealed his knowledge that Al-Najjar was an associate of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Ok, as a California voter, Tom, explain to me what gives with supporting these Muslim terrorist shills and giving them political access to you?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 3:38 pm and is filed under Sami al-Anan, Sami al-Arian, Tom Campbell. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “Updated: CA-Sen: Tom Campbell, Sami al-Arian and Political Access”